Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells $799,682.38 in Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Michael Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $199.37 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.77. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $157.20 and a 12-month high of $213.50. The firm has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 36.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Evercore set a $220.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Trending Headlines about Quest Diagnostics

Here are the key news stories impacting Quest Diagnostics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research expects higher Q4/near-term earnings for Quest, which supports the company’s fundamentals and could be a near-term tailwind if results and guidance confirm those estimates. Zacks Research Expects Higher Earnings for Quest Diagnostics
• Neutral Sentiment: Equity analysts have set/updated expectations for DGX Q4 earnings (consensus estimates being monitored ahead of the print); this keeps focus on results and guide as the primary near-term catalysts. Equities Analysts Set Expectations for DGX Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are driving implied volatility higher on DGX, indicating the market is pricing a larger-than-normal move around upcoming news (increases trading costs and can amplify share moves in either direction). Implied Volatility Surging for Quest Diagnostics Stock Options
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior executives completed sizable stock sales this week (SVPs and an EVP sold shares at ~ $204–$206 each). Combined disclosed sales total roughly $3.07M and represented single-digit to mid-teens percentage reductions in holdings — a negative signal that likely pressured the stock given concentration of selling among insiders. SEC Filing (Form 4) — Karthik Kuppusamy

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.